AP Photo/Matt RourkePennsylvania senior Deputy Attorney General Joseph E. McGettigan III arrives at the Centre County Courthouse for a pre-sentencing hearing Monday, Oct. 8, 2012, in Bellefonte, Pa. Former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday for sexually abusing 10 boys in a scandal that rocked the university and brought down coach Joe Paterno.

Jerry Sandusky’s fate remains in the hands of a Pennsylvania judge, who is expected to dole out a sentence for the former Penn State assistant football coach today.

Earlier this summer, Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of the 48 sexual abuse counts against him.

In a case that garnered national attention and shattered the career of coach Joe Paterno, many eyes and ears will be anxiously awaiting the outcome of the sentencing, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. at the Center County Courthouse in Bellfonte, Pa.

The case has piqued the interest of local officials, who say they expect the judge to sentence Sandusky to the highest extent of the law.

“Given the media attention and the seriousness of the case, I think the judge will come down very tough on him,” said Salem County Prosecutor John T. Lenahan. “I’m fairly certain he’ll spend the rest of his life in prison.”

Lenahan believes the Sandusky scandal — where officials involved reported suspected abuse to their superiors, but failed to go to police — has brought a greater sense of awareness of a person’s responsibility involving cases of possible child sex crimes.

“I think everybody has a heightened awareness,” Lenahan said, referring to institutions and organizations. “They now understand the consequences of looking the other way. But the Sandusky case is not unprecedented when you look at the scandals involving the Catholic Church and now the Boy Scouts.”

Here in the region, three male teachers at Triton Regional High School were charged last week with official misconduct for having sexual relations with female students, said officials from the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office.

Although there can be some connections made to the Sandusky case, JC Lore, a clinical professor of law at Rutgers Law School in Camden, says the Triton High School case is distinctly different from the Penn State story.

“I think the two cases are different in a lot of ways. In Central Pennsylvania, there was a lot more grooming of the victims,” Lore said. “(Triton was) not as extreme as what happened in Central Pennsylvania, but both socially unacceptable and criminally liable.”

On the Sandusky case, Lore said the length of his sentence could impact victims and families differently depending on the term of the sentence.

“It gives validation and closure. It validates them for coming forward. We hope they are treated appropriately by our criminal justice system and that it’s a fair and equitable and just place,” Lore said. “A life sentence sends the message that a victim’s feelings are validated. It sends a message to the victim that we understand that this crime was a horrific crime.”

While victims and families may feel relief once the sentence is given, psychologists from the region say there is no “right reaction” to the outcome of the sentencing.

“Some will feel the sentence was just and fair, some may feel it was more severe. Some survivors, because of their relationship with the offender, will feel a bit of sadness and concern for the offender,” said Ester Deblinger, co-director of the CARES Institute at UMDNJ and professor of psychiatry. “An important point to make is there is not one particular pattern of reaction. Survivors are all very different individuals.”

Consuelo Cagande, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, said sentencing day may give victims the affirmation they sought to be heard.

“The main thing victims and families need to feel is that justice was done and their voice was heard,” Cagande said. “Of course, everyone knows it doesn’t erase what happened to them. The most important thing is that they continue to receive some kind of counseling.”